


We’ll Never Make It (But At Least We Can Try)

by Crffin



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Angst, Endgame Luka Couffaine/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Established Relationship, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Luka Couffaine Loves Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Snake Luka Couffaine | Viperion, Songfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-14 08:07:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,375
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29415351
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Crffin/pseuds/Crffin
Summary: Luka is happy. Of course he is. He’s finally dating his dream girl, the one and only Marinette Dupain-Cheng.Marinette seems happy too, finally trying to let go of Adrien, but Luka knows that he’s still there, lingering in the back of her mind; in the one place Luka wishes he could be, her heart.But honestly, Luka doesn’t care right now. He’s in love with Marinette, and has been for a while, so he’s not going to let this opportunity slip through his fingers. Unlike when he’s Viperion, he won’t get a second chance.Or, that one time Luka writes a song expressing his doubts about the longevity of his relationship with Marinette, and Ladybug just so happens to overhear it.
Relationships: Luka Couffaine/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 5
Kudos: 54





	We’ll Never Make It (But At Least We Can Try)

**Author's Note:**

> The song that Luka writes is an actual song and was the inspiration for this fic.  
> I was just surprised by how much I thought the song fit with how Luka was probably feeling after the end of season 3.  
> Here's the song:
> 
> "We'll Never Make It" By Nico Collins  
> <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YAvVAAz6Rk>

Luka is happy. Of course he is. He’s finally dating his dream girl, the melody that’s been playing on loop in his head since the day they met, the one and only Marinette Dupain-Cheng. 

It happened only a couple weeks ago, not long after Chloe’s last akumitization. Marinette let Luka play her melody for her, and after that, they just kind of started dating. 

Marinette seems happy, finally trying to let go of Adrien, but Luka knows that he’s still there, lingering in the back of her mind; in the one place Luka wishes he could be, her heart. 

But honestly, Luka doesn’t care right now. He’s in love with Marinette, and has been for a while, so he’s not going to let this opportunity slip through his fingers. Unlike when he’s Viperion, he won’t get a second chance. 

Luka thinks he might be being selfish. He’s Marinette’s second choice, and as soon as Adrien comes to his senses and realizes what an amazingly perfect girl Marinette is, she’ll drop him. And there isn’t anything Luka can do about it, except for being the best boyfriend possible while he still has the chance. He’s going to enjoy this time while he can, and he’s damn well gonna make Marinette enjoy it too.

Luka will be Marinette’s shoulder to cry on, the person she can rely on, the person that she chose, until he can’t anymore. He doesn’t care if that’s selfish.

Everyone has the right to be a little selfish sometimes. 

***

They were just finishing up their date. Marinette and Luka walked hand in hand towards the Dupain-Cheng bakery. Stopping in front of the door, Marinette turned to face her new boyfriend. She smiled up at him, taking in the way the rising moonlight reflected off of his sapphire eyes. 

“I had a wonderful night, Marinette.” 

She blushed slightly. “I did too.” Marinette’s face quickly morphed into something more serious; her eyes dropped to the ground.

Luka braced for the worst. “I-I just want to thank you.” Marinette’s arms latched around Luka’s waist in a tight hug. Not exactly what he was expecting, to say the least. Luka moved his arms to hang around Mari’s neck, returning the embrace. 

“What are you thanking me for, I should be the one thanking you.”

That’s when he heard the light sob coming from where his girlfriend was leaning into his chest. “No. I NEED to thank you. It’s just that,” she hiccuped, “everythings been so hard for me recently, and you’re the only one who’s really there for me.”

Luka knew that Marinette has been under mounds of stress lately. He didn’t know where all of it came from, and he realized pretty early on that she was keeping something from him, and probably everyone else too. But Luka knows Marinette will talk about it when she feels comfortable. He doesn’t want to force her into anything. 

“I’ll always be here for you, Mari.” 

Marinette pulled back from Luka, wiping her tears with her jacket sleeve. They locked eyes for a moment, before Marinette stood on her toes, leaning her head up, landing a kiss on his lips, their first kiss on the lips. 

Luka bent down slightly, holding Marinette’s head in place, he leaned into the kiss, pressing their bodies close to each other. He let Marinette take the lead, in order not to push her farther than she was willing to go, so when she slid her tongue over his bottom lip, asking for entry, he gasped slightly in surprise, but quickly complied. 

The kiss wasn’t fast or aggressive, but rather slow and amatuer. And it didn’t last longer than 30 seconds. There weren’t fireworks or the realization that they were meant to be. It was just Marinette and Luka standing on the sidewalk, and the feeling of lips on lips. 

That didn’t mean it wasn’t the most amazing feeling Luka has ever experienced, allowing him, for just a moment, to forget all about Adrien and the looming threat of ending their relationship. 

The two of them separated, looking dopily into the others eyes. 

“W-wow Mari. I, um, I, wow.” 

Marinette blushed. She really was gorgeous when she did that. “Who’s the stuttering mess now?” She giggled, the sound causing Luka to blush too.

Without thinking, Luka expressed the only thing on his mind. “I love you, Marinette.”

For a moment, Marinette just stood there, stunned at the words. Then she smiled. “I love you too, Luka.”

Luka sucked in a breath. Had he heard her correctly. Did she just say “I love you too.” That brought him to his senses. 

‘She doesn’t really love me’, he thought, ‘she loves Adrien. I’m just standing in. I’m just the backup’.  
He looked back to Marinette, the girl he loves, with a small yet loving smile. He didn’t even realize the tear falling from his eye until Marinette used her thumb to wipe it away.

“What’s wrong?” She asked, voice filled to the brim with concern. “Did I say something I shouldn’t have?”

“No, no, nothings wrong.”

“Come on, Luka. You can tell me. This can’t be a one way support system. If you allow me to cry on your shoulder, you should be able to cry on mine.”

Luka blinked the tears out of his eyes. Marinette really was too perfect. Too good for him. “Really, it’s nothing, I’m just really happy you said that to me.” Mari smiled again. “It’s getting late. I think I should be heading back to the Liberty now. See you soon?”

“Of course.” Marinette planted another quick kiss on his lips before turning and entering the bakery.

Luka turned to walk back to his home, hoping he wouldn’t break down before he got safely back to his room. 

***

“OMG Tikki! I told him I love him!” Marinette shouted, once she closed the hatch to her bedroom. She couldn’t tell if she was extremely happy or stressing out. Honestly, it was probably both.

“Marinette, I’m so proud of you. That was a big step in your relationship, and another step away from your crush on Adrien.”

“Oh, Tikki, don’t say his name now. Ugh! I don’t know what to do. I said I’m trying to move on from Adrien, but I still love him. This is so hard.”

“You just need to follow your heart Marinette. I don’t think you would say you love Luka if you didn’t, but your relationship is still new. You need to give yourself more time. Just let yourself have a little bit more enjoyment in your life. You deserve that right now, with all of your Ladybug duties, and everything else in your life. And if Luka can give that to you, well then-” Tikki was cut off by the sound of a crash outside.

Marinette quickly climbed the ladder to her balcony to see what was making the commotion. 

Not too far in the distance, Chat Noir seemed to be holding off an akumatized villain. “I guess this conversation will have to wait.” Tikki concluded. 

“You’re right about that. Tikki, SPOTS ON!” Marinette transformed into Ladybug, and used her magic yo-yo to swing across the rooftops to where Chat Noir was. 

“Hey Kitty, what’s the situation.” She looked up to where the villain was floating above the two superheroes, just as a projectile attack was shot directly towards her. Ladybug just barely managed to roll out of the way to avoid the blast. 

“I’ve gotta get closer!” Chat yelled to Ladybug as she tried to swing to the back of the villain, just for her yo-yo to be shot down. 

Marinette turned to Chat just as he used his staff to spring closer to the akuma. The villain aimed an attack. “CHAT NO!”

Hearing the shout, Chat changed his course, but it was too late. The blast hit his side, knocking him down. Marinette flipped over to where Chat was laying on the ground. 

Luckly, the injury didn’t seem too bad. A small, searing burn cut through the very edge of his magical costume. 

“I’m ok, that just hurt, a lot.” Chat told her after seeing the worried look on her face. “I’m still good to fight though.”

“I know you are, but that’s not why I’m worried.”

“Then what is it, M’Lady?”

“That blast cut through your costume. If the villain lands a well aimed hit, we might not be getting up at all. We’re definitely gonna need my; LUCKY CHARM!” Ladybug threw her yo-yo to the sky, only for a small, rubber snake toy to fall into her hands.

“Huh, a rubber snake, what’re you gonna do with that?” Chat pondered mid dodge. 

Marinette looked around, not finding any use for the snake. 

That’s when she remembered her confusion from earlier, and her incredible date, and...Luka!

“I got it! Ugh, but I don’t know if that would be good for my heart right now.”

“I heard you say ‘heart’, are you talking about me, Bugaboo.” Chat teased.

“I told you to stop calling me that!” She landed her first hit on the villain, kicking it in the back of the head. “But I know what we need to do.” She looked to Chat to see him dodge another very close call while trying to take a citizen to safety. 

“That’s great! Cause I’d rather not get fried again. The first time hurt a ton.” Marinette threw her yo-yo, wrapping it around Chat and pulling him out of the way of an oncoming shot. “So, what’s the plan?”

“The plan is you keep the villain occupied, and I’ll be right back.”

“Where are you going, cause like I said, I’d rather not get fried.”

“I’m bringing in some backup!” She yelled towards the cat hero as she used her yo-yo to get back to her house as quickly as possible to pick up the snake miraculous.

***

Luka arrived back to the Liberty relatively swiftly, which was good as he really needed to be alone, or at least he needed his guitar. The only place he’d rather be is back with Marinette, but under the circumstances, maybe it was better that he be by himself. 

He really needs to contemplate the events of the night. He had such an amazing time. But everything shattered when Mari told him she loved him. 

Not because he doesn’t want her to. Of course he does, but hearing those words gave him hope. Hope he knows he shouldn’t have. Even if Marinette loves him, he’ll always be second fiddle to Adrien. 

Luka wants Marinette, but Marinette will never want him in the same way. Their relationship is destined to fail.

Luka pulled out his guitar, along with a notebook he’s been using recently to write lyrics in. Laying the book on the back of his guitar, he finally found the right words to finish it off.

He’s never been much of a writer when it comes to lyrics. He can usually get all his emotions out using just the notes and chords alone, but sometimes, he needs more than that. And this is one of those cases.

He puts the notebook down next to him on his bed, still close enough to read the lyrics, and begins to strum the first few notes that he’s practiced over and over in the past couple of days.

“No, that’s not quite right anymore.” He says to himself, changing a couple of notes. He keeps strumming until it finally matches how he’s feeling. 

He starts the song from the beginning, playing the chords he’s already memorized. 

♪Don’t say all your words--♪ he starts to sing before his sister enters the room.

“Hey Luka. Is that a new song?” Juleka mumbles, but Luka knows her well enough to understand her quiet speech.

“Um yeah, it is. I’ve been working on it for a couple of days, but I finally think I had the right inspiration to finish it.” He looks solemnly towards the pages of the notebook.

“Is it for Kitty Section?” she asks, sounding intrigued, well as intrigued as Juleka Coffaine can sound. 

He chuckles humorlessly. “No, no. If this song ever got out, I think I’d actually die.”

“That personal, huh. Is it for Marinette?”

Luka plucks haplessly as at the guitar. Music has always been his way of dealing with things. “Not really. If she ever heard this song, I don’t think I’d ever forgive myself. You know what. I’ll let you hear it. I really need to let my feelings out to someone, and if you swear not to tell Mari about this, I’ll let you be that someone.”

As much as Juleka likes to stay to herself, Luka knows she’ll always be there for him, just as it is the other way around. She nods, letting him know in her own way, that she’s ready to listen. 

\----

He has never played and sang the whole song together before, but it came together perfectly. But, by the time the song was nearing its end, more than a few tears had dripped from his eyes, and the last few lines were just barely comprehensible, as he held back the sobs stuck in his throat. 

“Oh, God Luka. I-I never knew you-” She was crying too. Not much, but the tears were there. 

“I don’t,” he choked back a sob, “I don’t want her to leave.” Luka sniffled softly, leaning his head back against the wall, trying to stop any more tears from flowing. 

“I think I should leave you alone, and I’m supposed to be heading over to Rose’s place now anyways. But this is something you need to talk about, with someone at least.” Juleka came towards him and gave him a quick hug before leaving the room.

Luka felt relieved to finally get that off his chest, but still, he felt so conflicted. The only thing he wasn’t conflicted about, was his feelings for Marinette. 

***

Ladybug landed on the aft deck of the Liberty, snake miraculous in hand. She snuck around the top of the houseboat, looking for Luka, although she had a feeling he would be in his room. 

Walking towards the porthole she knew was closest to his room, Marinette heard the telltale sign of Luka, that strumming of a guitar, although it didn’t sound like he was playing anything, just strumming randomly. 

Ladybug still found herself smiling at the music. As much as her feelings were complicated, she really did love Luka. Tikki was right, she wouldn’t have said it if she didn’t mean it. 

Sure she can stumble over her words, a lot, especially when it came to cute boys, but she didn’t think she would fumble saying something as important as “I love you.” 

Marinette tuned back into the strumming. She heard voices, two of them. One was Luka, she knew that, and the other was completely incoherent. 

‘Must be Juleka’ She thought. ‘But I can’t go in if Juleka’s in there, I’ll have to wait--’

Marinette’s thinking was cut off by the sound of the guitar changing into something more than random strumming. He was playing a song.

Marinette smiled again, listening to the song as it started, then he started singing. Marinette had only heard Luka sing once. He wasn’t bad, no, far from it, but he explained that he doesn’t like singing as much as he does playing the guitar. So once in a while, he’ll do backup vocals, but he prefers to give the lead singer position to someone else, Rose for example.

But now, Luka was singing, and Marinette couldn’t help but listen. She didn’t know the song, she wondered if he wrote it.

♪Let’s make the most of all our days cause soon they’ll slowly fade.♪  
She listened intently to the lyrics, at the possibility that he wrote them. 

♪ Your face, it could light up the sky ♪  
Aw, that’s sweet. She wondered if maybe the song was about Juleka because she was in the room with him. 

♪But eventually the sun goes out and we’ll be coming down♪  
What could that mean?

Then the chorus came, and she started to put the pieces together. 

♪ I don’t ever wanna say it  
Ever wanna face it  
Cuz we’ll never make it  
So stay in the moment  
Take my heart and hold it  
We’re going out of focus  
We’ll become strangers  
Sooner or later  
Time's gonna take us away  
I don’t ever wanna say it  
Ever wanna face it  
Cuz we’ll never make it ♪

‘He-he’s singing about ME!’ She thought frantically. 

♪It’s not what we planned but it happened.♪

‘But you don’t plan love’

♪Two souls looking for a distraction.♪

‘Is that all he thinks he is to me, a distraction?’

♪They’ll say I wasted my time  
But nothing is wasted when your heart’s with mine♪

‘Oh, Luka’

♪No, the feelings won’t die  
I pray that I’ll find you in some other life♪

‘This is how he’s been feeling all this time, and I thought I was struggling with my feelings.’

♪I know I was never meant to  
Be with you  
I know I was never meant to  
Be with you, be with you  
I don’t ever wanna leave you  
But I need to I need to  
I don’t ever wanna say it  
Ever wanna face it  
Cuz we’ll never make it♪

By the end of the song, Marinette could tell she was crying, but she was far more focused on the tears coming from inside the cabin. 

She managed to make out that Juleka was leaving the room, while still paying attention to the slow slobs coming from the voice she knows is her boyfriend.

‘Come on Marinette,’ She said to herself, ‘pull yourself together, you still have business to take care of.’ 

She wiped away the tears still sitting in their ducts, hoping it wasn’t too obvious that she had been crying. She’s Ladybug, she needs to be professional.

After steeling herself one last time, she walked to the door, opening it without knocking. She didn’t want to interrupt Luka’s alone time. She knew how important that time could be, especially for sorting out your thoughts, but the Lucky Charm told her to come here, and she and Chat Noir really needed the help.  
“L-ladybug, uhh,” Luka looked up frantically, wiping his eyes trying to hide the fact that his face is wet from crying, “What are you doing here?”

“I’m so sorry to drop in unannounced, especially right now when it clearly seems that you need some time to yourself, but Paris needs you.” She held out her hand, showing the miraculous to him. “Luka Coffaine, this is the miraculous of the snake, which grants the power of second chance, you will use it for the greater good, and when the akuma is defeated, you must return the miraculous to me.”

Luka wiped his eyes one last time before nodding proudly, and taking the miraculous from Ladybug’s hand. He slid the bracelet on his wrist.

“It’sssss good to sssee you again, Massster Luka.” Sass appeared next to Luka. 

“I just want to make sure you’re up for this today, before we go any further.” Ladybug asked the snake miraculous wielder.

“Don’t worry about me, I’m ok. But we have work to do.” Luka smiled, but it was his normal bright and confident smile. It was softer, more reserved, but Marinette trusted Luka. She knew he would be ok, and that if he couldn’t help, he would say so. “Sass, Scales Slither!” 

With that, the two heroes joined back up with Cat Noir in order to defeat the akuma.

***

It wasn’t the best timing, sure, but Luka understood the duty he took on when he first accepted the snake miraculous. He also understood just how powerful having a second chance is, so he’s been called upon a few times since first receiving the miraculous. 

The villain took 8 resets, which was a little higher than it normally is, but honestly he expected to be slightly off his game with everything else going on. And in the end, it was the same for everyone except him. Seeing Ladybug, Catnoir, or even some civilians burnt to a crisp over and over again was not pleasing, but knowing he can go back in time, gives him hope to keep trying.

“I hope you didn’t see anything too bad.” Chat said to him jokingly after the akuma was purified and the city was repaired, along with the few injuries Chat received while holding off the villain before he and Ladybug got there. 

“Chat!” Ladybug sounded slightly angry, but held back from exploding completely. “That is not something to joke about. It could be very traumatic for Viperion to see the worst case scenario constantly, like he does. Sure, from our point of view it seems like we beat the villain first try, but he could’ve watched us die, multiple times.” Ladybug turned to face Luka. “Ya know Viperion, I think you are very incredible in your ability to deduce the mistakes we make in situations and inform us of how to fix those mistakes. And your ability to keep trying after so many attempts, without the need for far too many excess attempts, is very telling about just how amazing you are.”

Luka blushed slightly at the comment. “Thank you for the compliment Ladybug. It means a lot to hear that from someone like you.” 

Viperion’s miraculous took that moment to beep and warn him that he was about to transform back. 

Ladybug looked back to Chat. “Sorry for snapping like that, Chat.” She looked at him with the same kind eyes he’s come to expect from Ladybug, “But we better get going. See you later.”

Ladybug’s earring flashed, and with that, they left, heading back in the direction of the Liberty. 

***

Standing close, but not close enough to be seen, to the Liberty, Viperion took off the snake miraculous, causing Sass to appear in front of him.

“Thank you for your help as always, Viperion. And I’m sorry about what Chat said back there. Sometimes he just has no filter.”

“It’s alright. I get that his way of dealing with things is through humor.” 

“It’ssss true. Sssseriousss sssituationssss are not exactly Chat Noir’ssss forte.” Sass chimed in.

“Here’s the miraculous.” Luka held out his hand, showing the bracelet sitting in his palm. 

Pressing his fingers back, Ladybug covered his hand with hers, pushing the miraculous back to Luka. “Keep it for now.”

Luka looked at Ladybug with confusion.

“When I arrived at your houseboat earlier, I could tell there was something important bothering you. I’ve found that talking to your kawmi is a pretty good way to get things off your chest.” Marinette told Luka, still looking slightly stunned. What she didn’t tell him was that after this conversation, she would be going back to her room in order to do that exact thing, and probably even talk about something similar to what Luka is dealing with too, just from the opposite perspective.

“Are you sure about this Ladybug?”

“Yup. But only if Sass is willing of course.” She looked towards the kwami floating slightly above them.”

“I would be delighted to help” The snake kwami told them. 

Ladybug smiled at the kwami. 

“Thank you, Sass,” Luka said, “and thank you Ladybug.”

“I am putting my trust in you that you will return the miraculous at my request.”

“Of course.” 

Ladybug’s miraculous beeped again, “Well I better take my leave, Bug Out!” And with that, Marinette threw her yo-yo, and swung away from Luka and his kwami. 

She landed on her balcony, transforming back into Marinette. Tikki immediately flew out in front of her. 

“Are you really sure it was a good idea, letting Luka keep the miraculous.” 

“Honestly, I don’t know, Tikki. It’s my decision to make now that I’m the guardian of the miracle box, and I really do trust Luka. He needs someone he can talk to, completely freely, and I was just thinking about how you’re truly the best creature to talk to. 

“Awww, thank you Marinette.”

“But speaking of which, I don’t know what to do! I told Luka I love him, because I do, but then I heard him singing that song earlier, which I definitely wasn’t supposed to hear, and I need to make sure he knows how important he is to me, and that he’s not just a second choice.” She rambled on quickly.

“But- but, is he a second choice,” Marinette started pacing around her room. “What if Adrien did ask me out? Would I go out with him? Would I just leave Luka? I couldn’t, no I wouldn’t do that to him! I love him, I really really do. I wouldn’t leave him just because I found out that someone else I love loves me. And do I even love Adrien the same way anymore? I mean, I still love him, but it might just be as a friend. Ever since I started dating Luka, I’ve enjoyed myself around Adrien a whole lot more because I know that we’re just friends. And I don’t even stutter around him any more! Well, not that much anyways.” She kept talking, almost too quickly for anyone, even herself to understand.

“But I can’t just tell Luka that he’s not my second choice and that I really do have feelings for him, because then he’ll ask why I told him that, and then I don’t know if I’ll be able to avoid bringing up the song, and then he’ll wonder how I heard it, and he’ll find out I’m Ladybug!” Marinette took a deep breath and collapsed onto her bed.

“Tikki! What am I gonna do?!”

“Well, the first question I think you should ask yourself is why you want to show Luka that he isn’t just your second choice.”

“What do you mean by that? Obviously because I need Luka to know how amazing he is and how special he is to me. He shouldn’t have to think of himself as a replacement or just temporary, or especially, as a distraction.”

“Good, then you’re doing this for the right reasons.” Mari sat up, tilting her head in slight confusion. “I think you just need to show Luka how much you care for him. It might take some time, but through the little things, and maybe the big ones too, he’ll come to realize that he isn’t just a backup boyfriend like he thinks he is.”

Marinette smiled at her kwami, pulling the bug creature towards her cheek for a small hug. “Thanks Tikki, you always know the perfect things to say.”

***

Luka sat on his bed, guitar in hand and somber expression on his face. Sass floated silently next to him. 

Luckly, Juleka was still at Rose’s place, so he had the room to himself. 

“Sssso Luka, what ssseemsss to be troubling you?” Sass questioned.

Luka strummed a few notes, allowing himself to feel more comfortable. It didn’t really work. He’s never been one to talk about his feelings, especially not with a magical, floating, snake creature.

“Nothing, nothing's wrong. I’m happy. I’m so happy right now. Why wouldn’t I be?” Luka lied, more to himself than to Sass.

“It’sss ok, Luka. You can talk to me. It’sss not like I can tell anyone elssse anywaysss.”

“I know, I know. That’s not really the issue, I guess. I just, I’ve always been better with this.” He tapped his fingers on the neck of his guitar.

“Then show me the way you think you can.”  
Luka gave a small nod before clearing his throat, and strumming the first notes of the song he played earlier for Juleka. 

♪Don’t say all your words, your goodbyes now♪...  
♪I don’t ever wanna say it  
Ever wanna face it  
Cuz we’ll never make it♪

For Luka, the song seemed to end as fast as it began. He was so entranced in the music that this time, he didn’t cry. This time, he just felt empty. 

“It’s about a girl,” He smiled softly just at the thought of Marinette. “She-she’s...well, I think the song explains it all. She’s important, no, more than important to me, but to her, I’m just second choice.”

“How do you know that? What makes you ssso sure that you care for her more than she doesss for you?”

“Because she’s in love with someone else. And it’s been obvious since we met. It’s honestly still a mystery how he never noticed.” He laughed humorlessly at the comment. Luka went on to explain more about the situation, finally able to get everything off of his chest. He told him about how they met, the ice rink, becoming silencer, his declaration of love, his experience being second fiddle to Adrien, and even their date that very night- hearing the words ‘I love you’ from Marinette’s mouth directed towards him, and the mixed feelings it gave him. He spoke while playing Marinette’s melody repeatedly on his guitar.

“You know what I think, I think you just need to show her how much you care. Sssometimesss love takesss longer for sssome people than it doesss for othersss, but that doesssn’t make that love any weaker. She already told you how she feelsss, and it would be wrong for you to dissscredit that.” Luka looked down, biting his lip at the words. “It might take sssome time, but you need to prove to her, that-if the time to ever comesss-you are the right choiccce. It may sssound selfish, but sssometimesss, it’sss ok to be ssselfish. And sssometimes, being ssselfish alssso makesss other people happier in the long run too.”

Luka smiled softly at the kwami. “Ya know Sass, that might be exactly what I needed to hear.”

The snake kawami laughed. “Well, I am pretty old, ssso I’d hope that I am wissse, even about sssubjects sssuch asss love.

***

The next day, Marinette didn’t see Luka, not as Marinette or Ladybug. She decided that he both needed a little bit of space, and that he should keep his Miraculous a little bit longer. But after that, things went back to normal. 

Nothing much changed between the two of them. 

They still went out on dates almost every weekend, texted and video chatted near daily, and saw each other whenever they could. 

They became a bit more physically intimate though, holding hands every chance they had, and cuddling up next to each other whenever it wouldn’t be weird. There was some kissing too, but that wasn’t what was important to them.

Marinette thought Luka looked happier. He didn’t seem as guilty about their physicality or his expression of his feelings anymore. He looked like he was really trying to show Marinette his love, which felt more natural from him than trying to hide it like he seemed to be doing somewhat before.

Marinette felt happier too. While there were still times when it was hard to forget about Adrien, it was always easy to love Luka. She didn’t have to try with him. She could be herself, her whole self (well maybe not Ladybug, but that’s besides the point). There wasn’t any stuttering, or crazy plans to get him to notice her affection. It was just Marinette and Luka, and that’s all they needed to be. 

And if Ladybug was calling on Viperion to help more often, Chat Noir didn’t need to know why. She always let Luka keep his miraculous for a little while after he helps out. Marinette knows a kwami isn’t a therapist, but having someone to talk to, no, having a friend to talk to, is something she knows that Luka needs, because as much as Mari and Luka trust each other, and are willing be be their shoulder to cry on, it’s never quite the same when you’re the topic of discussion. 

So maybe they won’t make it. Maybe their relationship is doomed to fail at some point. But for now they’re happy, and being the teenager that they are, honestly, that’s all that really matters. 

***

And maybe Luka wasn’t meant to be with Marinette. But that sure as hell doesn’t mean that he isn’t going to love her with everything he has.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm pretty surprised that the first fic I published to AO3 is for the Miraculous Ladybug fandom, but here we are. I'm just doing my part in spreading the Lukanette Agenda.


End file.
